Orphaned Kids, their traceability or lack of it. Applicable to Adopted or Otherwise
The root to write this journal is because of the Adoptive Parents family (single & couple) I'm connected with.
I'm an adoptive parent (adopted as single Dad) and come across many problems that orphaned kids (adopted or otherwise) go through in their journey of life.
One such problem was tabled during a discussion with my friend/counselor. Which is, there is absolutely no information on what happens to the kids once they are adopted into a family.
There could be many reasons: Human Resource, capital, infrastructure, system, et all.. Above all is the strong will from the concerned authorities who are responsible for child welfare.
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This article is about the situation of orphaned kids and what happens to them as they grow up and how technology (block chain backed system) can be a possible answer.
Statistics
It is estimated there are 153 million orphans worldwide (recent UNICEF report.)
Some of these kids gets adopted into families, and lot of them do not find a family.
Every day 5,760 more children become orphans.
Trivial stuff to begin with
From Wikipedia:
An orphan is someone whose parents have died, unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan.
If orphans were a country of their own, the population would rank 9th in the world—ahead of Russia
Approximately 250,000 children find a home and family through adoption, but 14 million children age out of the system and grow up as orphans.
In either case, there is no or lack of information trail on, where the kid comes from, where is it fostered, does it get schooled, and where it lands as an adult.
The worst scenarios being trafficking, prostitution, drug addicts or crime
In case of the adopted kids, there is some if not all information. But again not available in single place and authenticity is a major concern.
Why is it important to have this information.
Demography
This is key to analyse and plan for required support system.
And this could be more adoption homes, child care units, financial planning, counsellors, schooling, food and nutrition among few others.
Child trafficking
the most important of the all
Education
This can help track how many made it to formal Education, how many completed till +12 and how many dropped out.
In India the education of street children is very poor or often non-existent
Health
Helps track how many orphan kids are malnutritioned and what age and any mortalities resulting out of it. Which is a great loss of young lives to the humanity.
Similarly on the children growing to be AIDS orphan
Relationships
Its known thing that healthy relationships in any form shapes us as better human being. Having strong emotional support in ones life ensure healthy state of mind and body. This eventually defines how an person conducts in the public/ professional domain.
How many of them have support system (friend or otherwise)
How many of them could find a life partner
How many of them went on to have a family and likes
Social Behaviour -
Kids who grow up to be positive influencers in the society.
Hardships these kids faced as kids, teens and grown ups
how many of these end up in sorry state of drug addiction, prostitution, hardened criminals
And any attributable age, event or pattern to same
Some More Statistics
(Lot of this information is specific to Indian subcontinent, but the situation is not drastically different in other parts of the world)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_children_in_India>
Is it a crime to abandon a baby?
Most jurisdictions have exceptions to child abandonment in the form of safe haven laws. Safe Haven Laws allow mothers to safely abandon their newborn infants in safe locations - such as churches, hospitals, and fire stations - without fear of being charged with the crime of child abandonment.
How many kids never get adopted
There are 107,918 foster children eligible for and waiting to be adopted. In 2014,50,644 foster kids were adopted — a number that has stayed roughly consistent for the past five years. The average age of a waiting child is 7.7 years old and 29% of them will spend at least three years in foster care.
https://adoptionnetwork.com/adoption-statistics
Can Technology (Blockchain) help here?
By definition, A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed and public/private digital ledger that is used to record transactions across different systems so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the collusion of the network.
Too many Jargons? For people new to this technology, please read through the below links to get some light on this topic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain
https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/
Owner of the Asset
This is key to analyse and plan for required support system.
And this could be more adoption homes, child care units, financial planning, counsellors, schooling, food and nutrition among few others.
Child trafficking
the most important of the all
Education
This can help track how many made it to formal Education, how many completed till +12 and how many dropped out.
In India the education of street children is very poor or often non-existent
Health
Helps track how many orphan kids are malnutritioned and what age and any mortalities resulting out of it. Which is a great loss of young lives to the humanity.
Similarly on the children growing to be AIDS orphan
Relationships
Its known thing that healthy relationships in any form shapes us as better human being. Having strong emotional support in ones life ensure healthy state of mind and body. This eventually defines how an person conducts in the public/ professional domain.
How many of them have support system (friend or otherwise)
How many of them could find a life partner
How many of them went on to have a family and likes
Social Behaviour -
Kids who grow up to be positive influencers in the society.
Hardships these kids faced as kids, teens and grown ups
how many of these end up in sorry state of drug addiction, prostitution, hardened criminals
And any attributable age, event or pattern to same
Some More Statistics
(Lot of this information is specific to Indian subcontinent, but the situation is not drastically different in other parts of the world)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_children_in_India>
Is it a crime to abandon a baby?
Most jurisdictions have exceptions to child abandonment in the form of safe haven laws. Safe Haven Laws allow mothers to safely abandon their newborn infants in safe locations - such as churches, hospitals, and fire stations - without fear of being charged with the crime of child abandonment.
How many kids never get adopted
There are 107,918 foster children eligible for and waiting to be adopted. In 2014,50,644 foster kids were adopted — a number that has stayed roughly consistent for the past five years. The average age of a waiting child is 7.7 years old and 29% of them will spend at least three years in foster care.
https://adoptionnetwork.com/adoption-statistics
Can Technology (Blockchain) help here?
By definition, A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed and public/private digital ledger that is used to record transactions across different systems so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the collusion of the network.
Too many Jargons? For people new to this technology, please read through the below links to get some light on this topic:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain
https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/
Owner of the Asset
Adoptive Family and the Adopted kid
Governing Entity
CARA or WCD or similar
Key Participating Entities
Local Municipal BodiesHospitalCCU / Adoption homesAdoptive familiesRPOSchool / UniversityPolice
Key entities in the adoptive journey of a child
Transactions
Every event in the life of an orphan kids will be considered as a transaction
Birth --> Safe Haven --> Foster Care / Child Care Unit --> Free for Adoption --> Family --> Birth certificate --> Passport --> School --> Graduation --> Professional Life --> Relationship status --> Family
Life events of an adoptive child
Underneath technology elements
Transactions
Every event in the life of an orphan kids will be considered as a transaction
Birth --> Safe Haven --> Foster Care / Child Care Unit --> Free for Adoption --> Family --> Birth certificate --> Passport --> School --> Graduation --> Professional Life --> Relationship status --> Family
Life events of an adoptive child
Underneath technology elements
Block chain networkPlatform providerFramework to develop rules/ policies
There are multiple stack options to consider based. Some of the below being evaluated
Ethereum / cordaGcp / azurecordappsJava / Kotlin as programming constructs
Pictorial Illustration for a particular kid
Extending this to global community:
ICMEC is working towards global, standardized approach on missing children who could be orphans or otherwise.
Recognizing the importance of a globally coordinated and standardized approach to the registration, management, investigation, and resolution to missing children’s cases, in August 2015, ICMEC published a Model Missing Child Framework. The Framework outlines a robust, multi-faceted national missing child strategy and includes legislative provisions, policies, practices, systems, mechanisms, tools, and other key initiatives. It represents a best practice and an important step in changing the way the international community responds when a child goes missing.
From <https://www.icmec.org/model-missing-child-framework/>
Extending this to global community:
ICMEC is working towards global, standardized approach on missing children who could be orphans or otherwise.
Recognizing the importance of a globally coordinated and standardized approach to the registration, management, investigation, and resolution to missing children’s cases, in August 2015, ICMEC published a Model Missing Child Framework. The Framework outlines a robust, multi-faceted national missing child strategy and includes legislative provisions, policies, practices, systems, mechanisms, tools, and other key initiatives. It represents a best practice and an important step in changing the way the international community responds when a child goes missing.
From <https://www.icmec.org/model-missing-child-framework/>
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